Archive for July 2013

Tejay van Garderen is the hottest American cyclist on the pro tour. Last year he was named the “Best Young Rider” at the Tour de France after finishing the grueling race in 5th place, an award won by previous American racing legends Greg LeMond and Andy Hampsten. In 2011, he was the first American to […]

I don’t race my mountain bike. Sure I’ve participated in a handful of organized races, mostly of the 24-hour relay variety, but I paid my entry fees more for the socializing between laps (read: beer) and swag at the finish line (read: free beer) instead of any competitive desire to win, or even rank for […]

Jensen, Utah Dinosaurs are back! Well, maybe not from the Cretaceous Age 150 million years ago, but they’ve returned again on display at Dinosaur National Monument in Jensen, Utah. Actually, the large lizard bones never left, but the quarry exhibit building had been closed for five years because it had broken free of its […]

Nadim Abu Haidar pilots his Cessna 206 with the confidence born from decades at the helm of airplanes. He’s been shot at over Iraq, and landed on decks of aircraft carriers. Once while on the flanks of Mt. Timpanogos, he overflew us, and demonstrated a perfect loop-de-loop overhead, as we gaped in awe. If you […]

“Uh oh…I lost my boat!” I woke from a light doze at 4:00 AM. Drifts of sand had accumulated inside my unzipped sleeping bag and on my sweat-slimed skin. Even in the pre-dawn dark, it was too hot to be in a sleeping bag but too windy to lie uncovered on the beach. Sticky, gritty, […]

It was about two weeks into what was supposed to be a month-long trip that I realized there was no way I was going to be able to keep up with the film crew. They were all less than half my age, in their late 20s, and I was a couple of weeks away […]

Long rides. They’re what a certain breed of mountain biker lives for. Getting on your bike and pedaling until you’ve had your fill. Legs burning from the built-up lactic acid. Shoulders cramping from clutching the brakes. Throat parched because the water bladder has long since run dry. If this sounds like your idea of […]

“You should never become a salesman, Steph,” Shaun Raskin told me the night before our departure to Antelope Island. I had just finished laying out the vague details of our upcoming trip and had started to recount the mundane memories from my only other Antelope Island experience when she interjected. “This isn’t very convincing.” […]